


hypnolpathy//teleopsis

by PersephoneHemingway



Series: part gold [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Compulsion, Empath, Erotic Hypnosis, F/M, Half Time Lord!Reader, Headcanon, Hypnosis, Mildly Dubious Consent, Not Britpicked, Not Canon Compliant, Pining, Protective Doctor (Doctor Who), Psychic Abilities, Psychic Bond, Reader-Insert, Secrets, Self-Indulgent, Telepathy, The Hybrid - Freeform, Time Lord Telepathy (Doctor Who), Timey-Wimey, Transitions what transitions?, Two Shot, i make my own rules, protective Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:08:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27115891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersephoneHemingway/pseuds/PersephoneHemingway
Summary: two tales of time lord mind tricks
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/Reader, Eleventh Doctor/You, Tenth Doctor/Reader, Tenth Doctor/You, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Reader, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/You, Twelfth Doctor/Reader, Twelfth Doctor/You
Series: part gold [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1445071
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	1. hypnocompeluggestion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there's something about his voice...  
> ten to eleven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> credit to VioletMoodSwings' [Gallifreyan Mind Tricks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16052246) for the whole 'time lord hypnosis' idea— it's one of my favorite whouffle smuts

The Doctor had a _way with words_ , and a history of talking people into action or inaction or compliance or companionship...

You refused to blindly believe him, and you didn't.

You had your _peculiar_ lineage to thank for your resistance.

_You were not like other companions…_ nevermind the cliché.

_Rule number one, the Doctor lies._

But the others didn’t quite notice _how much_ when his voice hid it so well.

&

The Doctor wasn't used to much doubt, not since Rose... most of the others were mystified by him, listened without too much resistance— _Doctor knows best._

Then he stumbled upon you.

In the following months of adventures, the Doctor figures out you're resistant to him, but he can't quite figure out why.

You see how others react to his voice and think you're immune.

You knew more than it seemed, and you'd challenge the Doctor whenever he tried to brush off warning signs as extraplanetary quirks (to hide that he was actually investigating), or whenever he'd try to send you or Martha (and later, Donna) back to the TARDIS to keep you safe— lock you in, or distract you long enough to miss the danger.

It was always _fetch this doohickey for me, quickly!_ or _I'll catch up, right behind you_! and you didn't buy it.

You refused to blindly believe him— but when you saw adventure after adventure what he used his voice to do (versus all the things he _could_ _have_ used his voice to do), you began to believe _in_ him.

You could tell when he was using his compulsion, so you'd feign obedience just to turn around and run back into the good fight.

You wouldn't be left behind. You wouldn't leave him behind. Not when there was so much he had to give, so much he’d be throwing away, so much _you could help him with, so much you wanted—_ when there was _so much more._ The Doctor made you feel _more than_ — more than just half a person, half-extinct, and wholly out of place. You couldn’t give that up, for yourself, or for anyone else— the world couldn’t lose him just because he saw himself a suitable martyr, so set on doing the hardest parts alone. _You had to protect him— you wanted to._

_The Doctor— he could take people and bring them back to life._

_Who else could say that?_

& _  
_

One day when your savior complex turns to outright defiance, to an almost-death, he proves to you that you're not so immune to his voice.

He yelled. He knocked you back with a word. He dropped you unconscious in the hotel where he'd found you.

&

It was the last you saw of the Doctor as you knew him.

The two of you never had a chance to recover before his face changed.

He'd left, he’d travelled, he’d lost— but when he'd come back, you knew him on sight.

Your easy recognition and obvious lack of alarm was a conundrum, but he’d had plenty of time to think back on you. He squinted, "You're _time lord_ , aren't you?"

A pause. "Half," Another pause, a tilt of the head. "Took you long enough, _old man_."

A sigh.

"If you’re going to come back, you have to _listen_ to me, (Y/N), I say what I say for a reason."

"Yes, reasons. Often bad, or misfounded, but _reasons_ he says."

"(Y/N). I mean it. You need to do what I say."

"So what, you're just gonna _make me_? Now that you know what I am, what it actually takes to compel me, you can—"

"Well, no. See, time lord-on-time lord hypnosis is more... suggestive, than compulsive. You can only successfully hypno-suggest a thought or action to another time lord if it's something they're already likely to think or do, and still, it’s tricky." _Always trying to act the teacher._

Your face clearly said you weren't buying it.

"I know you want to listen to me somewhere deep in there. I'll show you."

You took a step back, wary of the look in the Doctor's eyes.

"You knocked me out and left me forgotten last time... I didn't even have a chance... that was _of my will_?"

"That was different— that was a psychic attack. Straightforward. It wasn't meant to manipulate, hypnotize, or keep you awake; I just needed you out of the way."

You flinched, but were grateful for the honesty.

"I can only 'capture' you in something you'd consider. Want.  
Humans, Silurians, Zygons, a cluster of other species— no holds barred— you’ve seen what my words can do. But you've already proven that I have to knock you out to stop you if I feel you have no chance of listening to me. It’s not the same as compelling you to do something for me."

"So, capture?"

"It's like being caught in an echo chamber— the resonance of the hypnosis grows until it's all you can hear. You’ll do anything I’ll ask, if I follow the right motives and ask in a way you’d agree, if uninhibited. It’s like being drunk. I'll show you."

Something uncharacteristically desperate was in his eyes that convinced you to agree.

He was trying to tell you something he wouldn't have otherwise been able to say.

You'd already learned that he was direct so he could be indirect.

He was taking a risk. He would only take this risk once.

"Close your eyes."

You did.

“You listen to me. I _want_ you to listen to me.”

You do.

There was something _more_ in his voice— it sunk into you slowly. If molasses was a sea you could bathe in… You could feel it slipping in— not as if through cracks, but down hallways and through open doors. You swam in it.

"Look at me."

Your eyes blinked open wide, locked with his.

Pupils dilated.

Somehow he had the faces of both the men you knew as the Doctor— and behind him was a blur of all the other faces you had never met.

“You want me to try something. You’ve been wanting me to try something. _You’ve been wanting me_.”

_You have._

“You watch me. You _listen_ to me. You do what I say— you don’t even _have_ to, but you do anyway.”

_You do._

“You know me. You _see_ me. Before I even knew it— you deceive me; and I can’t lie to you.”

_Your eyes… your intuition_ …

“Starstruck— what we are to each other, though neither of us is so young it still shows on our faces without permission.”

_More like star-crossed, wouldn’t you say?_

“Nm, come back to me. Listen to me. You’re listening to me— your voice is mine, our voices are together, my voice is your voice. Our voices align, our thoughts align, our wants align, we align…”

_Our…_ Our—

And the Doctor knew the trance was taking him in too— the control, the repression…

“And I know you’ve been wanting me. You want me. You want me too. You want me to—”

_To touch me. Please, Doctor, t-touch me…_

"And I'm kissing my way up your thighs, aren't I? Sucking and nipping, lapping up your cream and leaving wet trails behind... because you already know you're dripping for me."

"D-doctor-!"

And your eyes are blown and teary— you haven’t blinked. He has you caught up in his words down flat. You're looking at his lips and everything that leaves them is as good as true. Your legs are shaking, and with a particularly violent shiver your knees knock into each other and immediately collapse under you to crack onto the TARDIS floor.  
It breaks the hypno-connection but the tremors don't stop. You keep your head bent down into your lap, afraid to see the smug look bound to be on the Doctor's face.

You see his knees bend down to rest in front of you, his hands on your shoulders but you still won't look up.

"(Y/N)." His voice seems deceptively calm. Your tremors fade into aftershocks but you don't look up. "(Y/N), please look at me." You didn't.

"Are your knees okay? You hit the ground hard." He sighed at your continued silence. One palm tipped your chin up to look at him. You were teary and your cheeks were hot.

"Oh, (Y/N). I'm sorry, I took it too far..." You sniffled and cast your eyes down again.

"No, it's- I- Doctor, I..."

"Shh, I know, (Y/N/N), I know.." He pulled you into him.

You let him hold you.

_But do you know?_

"I- I've just wanted you... for so long... and I thought... I mean, it was a crush, yeah? I didn't know you'd... and I don't know if you... and I... I don't think I can take it, Doctor-the game... I don't- don't think I can go on pretending I don't... want you... if y- you… can do.. to me.. so easy…"

“But- I was trying— I, _do_ — _I do_ want you. Presently— I, no one can account for the future you know, time and all—"

“I get it. Don’t worry, I get it. I actually like that you’re being honest.” You winked; then you inhaled deep and stared at your hands pressed to the floor, holding your weight.

“You knew all of that this whole time but you never said anything.”

“Really, I was blind to most of it until I lost my last face— and almost lost you.”

You hummed and avoided his eyes. He knew he’d have to admit more.

“He— I— couldn’t see beyond Rose. Couldn’t see that I missed you. You know all my old excuses, you know I couldn’t bear to see you… _you know_. What I don’t know… if I didn’t want you to become me, or didn’t want you to get too close to me… I don’t know if I could’ve handled it… If…” He drew a hand back through his hair.

“But (Y/N)?” You quietly met his eyes.

“I see you now.”

A pause. You both started at the other’s lips.

“Is it too late?”

You shifted your eyes back up to his and slowly shook your head.

_No. Never._


	2. teleoempatymbiosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you want to tell him you understand, but...  
> twelve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not a continuation of ch 1— a separate piece

It was a war we couldn’t stop.

(It was a war we might have started).

It wasn’t a war anyone would end up winning.

The discomfort was palpable.

"So, adventure done then. And, here we are back home, home sweet earth. Any big plans without us, Clara?"

"...Yes, I have a date with Danny tonight."

"Oh, yes, Danny, Danny Pink. Mr. Pink. Trading one war for another— Good ol' soldier boy, following orders and shooting other good men for the good of the—"

"DOCTOR. Stop." You cut him off.

Clara clenched her teeth and blinked a few times before she could contain her fury enough to speak.

"See you Wednesday, Doctor."

She promptly exited the TARDIS, and left the door open behind her.

You know he’s so so tired. You know he needs a break. You know he doesn’t need to hear from you right now—what can you say? But it’s not like it could stop you from trying.

"You're not a soldier, Doctor— don't give me that look, you're not a General either. You're a strategist. And theory doesn't always work out. Orders meant to protect your own can become massacres, conversations can become wars…” A breath, “But you think fast, and you have a heart in there, beneath all of... that." You made a vague swirling gesture towards his image of disheveled-rock-fan-turned-grumpy-magician.

“It’s… _c’est la vie._ ”

The Doctor scoffed, looked to you somewhere close to offended.

“Of course, wisdom spoken by a complacent little girl, a _human_ , with the lifespan of a speck compared to the rest of the universe… how could you _possibly_ ever hope to understand?”

You knew why he said it; you knew he didn’t know what you knew— but it still hurt, and it showed on your face.

“Doctor, I wish I could explain the way _I understand_ … more than you think… but you don’t need to hear it now. I’ll be around, yeah? Come find me when you stir up some more trouble— I love trouble.”

And you disembarked.

He watched after you as if something in the air had fundamentally changed from the gravity of your voice.

&

It was not uncommon for you to take time off, but it was usually only a day or two, and the Doctor had always sent some kind of text right after you left asking when you’d like to be picked up again.

A week had passed.

You might’ve lost your ticket.

That hurt.

You’d decided you’d meet up with Clara next Thursday, see what they’d been up to.

&

You never got the chance to check up with her Thursday because she’d hunted you down Wednesday morning.

“He refuses to admit he needs you back with us! He goes on about how you’re _too close to the real thing_ or whatever rubbish excuses he makes to avoid his feelings! Talk some sense into him, (Y/N), please!”

“Too close to… what does he mean?” _Did he… did I…_

“I don’t know, but c’mon, he’ll be here any minute, and you have to go with us!” She’d started pulling you by the arm.

&

You’d unsettled him.

Something about your eyes… looked _older_ in that moment— and he wasn’t prepared for what that could mean if it wasn’t his imagination.

He was afraid to know for sure.

The Doctor knew leaving you behind wouldn’t work, but maybe a little distance would… he really couldn’t come up with a better excuse.

He could only look at you in the doorway as Clara patted him on the shoulder, told him to _figure it out_ , and descended into the TARDIS for some wardrobe therapy.

“Doctor?”

He watched your hand as it squeezed the TARDIS door and carefully shut it behind you as to not disturb the air.

“I- Can I—” You stop, take a breath, and restart. “I’m going to tell you a secret now, okay?”

Sometimes the Doctor speaks in silences, and in this silence, you know he wants you to _go on_.

“It doesn’t… _have_ to be a secret, I mean, I’m going to tell Clara too, after this… but it _has been_ a secret, and it’s mine, and- and I’ve been waiting for the right time, for when you really needed it— I mean _really_ needed to know— my… secret.”

His eyebrows are on the defensive.

“Okay— okay, okay!” You step toward the Doctor with a hand out, then you stop and bring it back down. “O-“ You exhale. “Okay. But I’m not going to _say_ it. It wouldn’t be the same. It- but I am going to _tell you_. Okay?” You keep hesitating— are you moving, are you not? “I’m just going— just… Doctor? Would you…” Your voice drops so soft. “Can you come here?” Your eyes flick from your feet, to his feet, to his eyebrows, to his eyes. They settle.

His hands are in his pocket as he approaches you. You almost want to flinch back. He stops when there are three inches between your toes.

You breathe in and out; you whisper, “Thank you.”

You close the distance and lift your hands up to cup his cheeks and bring him forward to press your foreheads together.

Your latent telepathy surges and you _share_ with the Doctor, calming him the way you calm all the scared people you come across and save— Clara always joked that you had a magic touch, an innate way of soothing people. This night, you showed the Doctor it wasn't magic— it was _time lord_. He jerked his face back from yours, unequivocally stunned.

"You're—"

"Time lord. Half, but still time lord. Yes."

"My— stars, (Y/N)... you never..."

"I know, and I'm sorry. But there are rumors... of a hybrid, and I've been afraid..."

"It's _you_?"

"I— I mean, I'm not sure, but it could be? I mean, I'm _a_ hybrid, if not _the_ hybrid, so I'm... not safe..."

He rushed his hands to reassure you.

"You are. Safe. I'll make sure of it. I'll keep you safe. (Y/N). I mean it." Your foreheads fell together again.

"And I, you, Doctor. You're safe with me— safe from yourself." His eyes were overflowing with what your words meant to him. Absolutely overflowing. 

“I know you wanted to yell back how wrong I was when I said I understood… but Doctor, see? _I promise_.. I _understand_. Okay?”

He kept your foreheads together and nodded them both.

“I’m only half… but I can be your other half… if you want.”

You closed your eyes.

“It may not be four hearts… but it’s three, yeah? That’s one more for you than before… and it’ll synchronize… in a way a human heart can’t.”

“ _How do you know?_ ”

You laced one of your hands with his and pulled them from your cheeks to your chest.

“It used to beat with my mom’s… that’s how she knew when I was born that I wasn’t all human. She didn’t know how much, but she knew I was time lord too.”

“I-“ The Doctor cleared his throat. “ _I am so lucky to have met you_.”

You smiled.

“Not lucky, just time lord.”

_Lonely species have a way of finding one another—_

_and here we are._


End file.
